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DERBYSHIRE V MIDDLESEX | MATCH REPORT

Match report provided by the ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay.

DAY FOUR

Ryan Higgins found his form at just the right time to save Middlesex from defeat on the final day of the Rothesay County Championship Division Two match against Derbyshire at Derby.

Higgins scored 56, his first 50 of the season, sharing a seventh wicket stand of 75 from 155 balls with Zahar Gohar who was unbeaten on 52 off 108 balls to take Middlesex to 307 for 7, 150 ahead, when the teams shook hands on a draw.

Max Holden with 94 and Stephen Eskinazi, 61, had added 169 for the second wicket only to throw their wickets away in the last over before lunch.

Derbyshire’s hopes lifted when the visitors slipped to 220-6 but Higgins and Gohar stood firm to deny them although the draw takes them to second place, 13 points behind leaders Leicestershire.

Middlesex started the morning 97 runs behind needing to bat deep into the day to deny Derbyshire victory.

Their first objective was to deny the hosts early wickets on a pitch that was offering turn and Eskinazi and Holden started well although both had moments of good fortune.

Eskinaz edged Blair Tickner between first and second slip to the third man boundary before Holden was given a reprieve on 46.

He swept Jack Morley hard to short mid-wicket where Tickner could only parry the ball in front of his face.

It was a tough chance withTickner doing well to get his hands up to protect himself and the rest of the session was largely uneventful until Middlesex inexplicably pressed the self-destruct button in the last over before lunch.

Holden had passed 500 runs for the season and was closing on a third century in seven innings when he went for a big slog sweep at Morley and was bowled.

Perhaps he was trying to get to three figures before the interval but given the game situation it was an irresponsible dismissal.

What followed bordered on farce as Leus du Plooy, batting with a runner, drove the ball towards the cover boundary where Harry Came’s return to the bowler’s end ran out Eskinazi who had raced down the pitch looking for a third run.

Those two dismissals had opened the door for Derbyshire who gave it another firm shove after the interval.

Du Plooy injured his right foot batting in the first innings and a Tickner yorker struck his left foot in line to send him hobbling back to the pavilion.

Four runs later, Ben Geddes got an inside edge off Alex Thomson onto pad and Caleb Jewell dived at leg slip to take the catch.

Chappell then produced a beauty to have Jack Davies caught behind but Gohar and Higgins got to tea with Middlesex 86 ahead.

Derbyshire took the second new ball but the pair continued to steer their side towards safety until Higgins swept Thomson to deep square leg with the visitors 138 ahead.

But Gohar completed his 50 with his second six and Derbyshire called off the chase with 15 overs remaining.

DAY THREE

Zak Chappell tightened Derbyshire’s grip on the Rothesay County Championship Division Two match as Middlesex were forced to follow on at Derby.

The fast bowler took 4 for 55 with the visitors bowled out for 315, eight short of the follow-on target, despite half-centuries from Leus du Plooy, Ben Geddes and Jack Davies.

Middlesex then lost Nathan Fernandes to the first ball of their second innings before closing on 60 for 1, still 97 behind.

Derbyshire’s mood going into the third day matched the glorious weather and the outlook got even brighter for the hosts when Ryan Higgins went in the third over of the morning.

He clipped Chappell firmly but in the air to mid-wicket where Alex Thomson dived full length to his left to take a stunning one handed catch.

Thomson was mobbed by jubilant team mates and not just for the quality of the fielding because Higgins represented a big wicket in the context of the game.

But that was to be the only success for some time as nightwatchman Blake Cullen and Leus du Plooy dug in to lift the spirits of the visitors.

After retiring hurt with a foot injury the previous day, du Plooy was able to resume his innings with Max Holden as a runner and although restricted, the former Derbyshire man played soundly to bat through to lunch.

Cullen also shaped well although he was reprieved on 16 when he edged Chappell to first slip where Caleb Jewell got a hand to it but could not hold on.

He took advantage and passed his previous highest score of 34 by clipping Luis Reece to the mmid-wicket boundary but missed out on a maiden 50 when he aimed a big drive at the all-rounder and was caught behind.

But Cullen had done a good job for his team, batting 95 minutes in the morning and sharing a stand of 60 from 118 balls with du Plooy who was put down at short leg on 35 off Jack Morley.

Du Plooy completed his 50 from 133 balls but then edged Chappell to second slip with Middlesex still 117 runs short of avoiding the follow on.

Geddes and Davies played sensibly to reduce that by 55 but the spinners were finding some turn and Thomson broke the stand with a ball that spun sharply.

Geddes had launched the off-spinner over long on for six but when he reached out to drive the next ball, he was bowled through the gate.

Chappell returned to have Zafar Gohar and Toby Roland-Jones caught behind but Davies pulled and drove him for two sixes to reach 50.

With eight needed to avoid the follow-on, Davies tried to launch Thomson for another maximum but failed to clear long off and Derbyshire immediately sent Middlesex back in.

They were rewarded with the first ball as Nathan Fernandes sliced a drive at Reece into the hands of gully.but in his next over, he pulled up with a problem in his right leg and had to leave the field although he was back on before the close.

Stephen Eskinazi and Holden batted through to stumps in relative comfort but Middlesex have a lot of work to do to avoid defeat.

DAY TWO

Martin Andersson gave his former team mates a big reminder of his qualities with a career-best century to put Derbyshire firmly in control of the Rothesay County Championship Division Two match against Middlesex at Derby.

The ex-Middlesex all-rounder scored 107 and shared a county record sixth wicket stand of 148 with Luis Reece who made 60 to lift Derbyshire to 472 all out.

Andersson’s memorable day continued when he took a catch and then had Stephen Eskinaz caught behind before Blair Tickner claimed his second wicket to leave the visitors on 101 for 3, 371 runs behind.

Middlesex’s hopes of early wickets slowly evaporated in the hazy sunshine although Andersson looked fortunate to survive an lbw shout when he was beaten by Toby Roland-Jones.

The Middlesex skipper and Dane Paterson both found some swing and seam movement to trouble Andersson and Reece but the pair batted with patience and discipline to frustrate the visitors.

Andersson was made to wait for his 50, facing 12 dot balls on 49, before a thickish outside edge off Ryan Higgins flew to the vacant third man boundary.

Reece had combined watchful defence with calculated aggression and he brought up the 100 stand in style by coming down the pitch to launch Zahar Gohar over long on for six.

He reached his first 50 of the season in the last over of the morning which had emphatically belonged to the hosts with 102 runs coming from 30 overs.

The pair went on after lunch and eclipsed the previous Derbyshire sixth wicket record stand against Middlesex of 130 by Michael Di Venuto and Graeme Welch at Lord’s in 2002 before they were finally parted.

Reece came a long way down the pitch before he was sent back and wicketkeeper Jack Davies scored a direct hit at the bowler’s end to run him out.

Alex Thomson was caught behind playing back to Gohar but Andersson reached an excellent hundred when he cut Nathan Fernandes for his 15th four.

He was warmly applauded by his former team mates who recognised how well he had played when the game was in the balance.

Andersson missed a sweep at Fernandes before both Zak Chappell and Blair Tickner fell to catches in the deep leaving Middlesex to score 323 to avoid the follow-on.

By now, the clouds had rolled in and Reece found some swing to take Stephen Eskinazi’s outside edge but the ball dropped just in front of first slip.

Tickner made the breakthrough when Fernandes failed to get over a drive and sliced to gully where Andersson made no mistake and the all-rounder then had Eskinaz caught down the legside off a glove with the total on 57.

Middlesex lost the in-form Max Holden when Tickner got one to straighten and there was more concern for the visitors before the close.

Former Derbyshire batter Leus Du Plooy had been struggling after he was struck a painful blow on the right foot by a Reece yorker and had to retire hurt on 10 towards the end of a day which belonged to Derbyshire and Andersson.

DAY ONE

Derbyshire opener David Lloyd emerged from a poor start to the season before Middlesex fought back on the opening day of the Rothesay County Championship Division Two match at Derby.

Lloyd made 93 from 197 balls, his highest innings since September 2022, and shared a second wicket stand of 156 with Harry Came who scored 73 after the visitors put the hosts in to bat.

Although the in-form Caleb Jewell was out for a duck, there was little in the pitch for the Middlesex bowlers until late in the day when the second new ball did the trick.

Toby Roland-Jones bowled Wayne Madsen for 49 to finish with figures of 2 for 47 from 20 overs as Derbyshire closed on 267 for 5.

Lloyd came into the game under pressure to deliver after a run of low scores in his first six innings of the season.

That would have increased after his opening partner Jewell registered a rare failure when he fell to Roland-Jones in the third over of an overcast morning.

The Tasmanian had scored five half-centuries in the first three matches but was still looking for his first run when he edged Roland-Jones low to second slip.

Perhaps the overhead conditions and a green-tinged pitch had persuaded Middlesex to bowl first but their bowlers found there was not much to encourage them.

Although the bowling was disciplined, there was hardly any seam movement or swing to trouble Lloyd and Came who showed good judgement to bat through to lunch.

They added 85 from 182 balls which showed how hard they had to work for the runs and it got no easier after the interval.

In the first 10 overs of the afternoon session, there were only seven scoring shots and three of those were edges to the vacant third man boundary.

The pair faced 73 dot balls in the first hour until Lloyd relieved some of the tension by cutting and pulling Ryan Higgins for two fours.

Lloyd passed his previous best score for Derbyshire of 73 but had an escape when he edged Zahar Gohar just past Higgins who should have got a hand to it.

A century looked there for the taking until he was drawn into pulling a shot ball from Higgins to long leg where Blake Cullen dived forward to take the catch.

Lloyd’s body language showed that he had thrown away a great opportunity and Came also lost patience after tea when he came down the pitch to Gohar but failed to clear deep mid off where Stephen Eskinazi took a good catch above his head.

Middlesex took the second new ball as soon as it became available and the breakthrough they badly needed arrived when Dane Paterson beat Brooke Guest’s defensive push.

With no addition to the total, Roland-Jones got the big wicket of Madsen who was bowled by one that moved away to shave the off stump which brought his average for the season down below 88.